


Better Left Unsaid

by iviscrit



Series: Scenes from Zaofu [7]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Romance, Young Love, baavira - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iviscrit/pseuds/iviscrit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuvira asks Baatar to join her in her quest to stabilize Ba Sing Se and reunite the kingdom. Final part of the "Scenes from Zaofu" series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Left Unsaid

The lab was quiet without his father. 

After  Raiko  and Tenzin had visited  Zaofu , asking for Su to assume power until the heir to the throne came of age, his parents had spent more and more time discussing what the rapid deterioration of the Earth Kingdom meant for the state. Without a centralized government,  Zaofu  was all but an independent nation-state in its own right, and Su agonized over her next course of action more than she let on.  Baatar  knew his father had little interest in politics, so the fact that he allow ed Su to drag him from the lab repeatedly meant that she required impartial opinions. 

And handholding.  Lots of handholding.

Kuvira  had been present for the meeting with the representatives of the United Republic, and immediately afterward had joined him in his lab for a late night of rewiring circuitry— or in her case, earnest complaining. Their dates never seemed like encounters between proper couples so much as they seemed friendly outings; even after they began a clandestine relationship  Baatar  couldn’t help but think that she treated her time with him as part of an experiment. Her very kisses were experimental, to the point that he wondered more than once if their  forray  out  of the realm of the platonic meant nothing to her. But  Kuvira  had always been cagey with her emotions, and hesitant to break the physical contact barrier even with him. He knew her well enough to trust that her stated intentions of going slowly were simply just to ensure their friendship remained unharmed. It wasn’t like her to string someone along.

“I need to talk to you,”  Kuvira  said, jolting him from his reverie as she banged the door  open , crossing the room  in a few long strides. She looked excited, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright, and she seized his hands in her own as soon as she had reached him. “I have something  extremely  important to ask you.”

“What?” he said, tripping over the word and standing, the chair shoved back into the lab bench in his haste and upsetting the metal crucible. “Hold on .. ”

“No, it’s my fault,” she said impatiently, righting it with a gesture. “ Baatar , remember what we talked about, when  Raiko  and Master Tenzin visited?”

“Of course,” he said, frowning. “That’s what you wanted to ask me?”

“I need your help,”  Kuvira  said, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her excitement. “I’ve  been talking to the rest of the guard, and the wealthier benefactors, and I think I have the solution. I’m pretty sure everyone will back me on this, but I wanted to ask you first before I went ahead with it.”

“Ask me what?” he prodded. “I’m still confused.”

“Su doesn’t want to help, so I’m leaving,” she said. “It’s all coming together. You said you wanted to help, will you come with me?”

“What? No,” he said thoughtlessly. Her face crumpled and  Baatar  winced, instantly regretting the dismissive tone he had taken and the way the words had tumbled out without a second’s hesitation. “It’s not that— I just… how long have you been planning this?” 

“The past month,” she said, her usual impassivity back in place. “Why won’t you come with me? I thought we were on the same page, you said that we had the resources to get the big states back on track and that Su was missing a chance to do a lot of good.” 

“Saying that’s different from just  leaving  to do that in person,” he protested. “What are we supposed to do, take the entire guard with us? Take the whole damn state army?”

“Yes,” she said as if she found his reservations incomprehensible. “What else? The capitol is overrun with bandits, and apart from the Royal Guard Ba Sing Se doesn’t have a  proper  army.”

Baatar  pinched the bridge of his nose. “I see your point,  Kuvira , but you’re asking too much. Dad wants to expand—“ 

“But you’d be doing what you always wanted,” she wheedled, pulling him closer. “You’d be in charge of tech, and you’d get to design things too, not just build what your father wants—“ 

“I know,” he said slowly. The prospect of leaving with her  and pioneering new progress in the Earth Kingdom  was tempting, but it was  all  too much and too soon. “You’ve been planning this for a month?” he said, beginning to feel overwhelmed. “Why am I hearing about it now? It sounds like all that’s left is packing up and going.”

“Yes,” she said, a thread of annoyance in her voice. “I spared you the hard part. What do you say?”

“You’re asking me to decide now?”  Baatar  said incredulously. “You’re asking  too much  of  me. Can I have time to think?”

“Of course,” she said, letting go and crossing her arms over her chest, watching him. “Take as long as you need.”

He growled in frustration, throwing up his hands. “Not with you here.”

Kuvira’s  mouth compressed into a thin line.  “You’re angry with me.”

“Kind of, yes!” He heaved a sigh. “Can you go? I can’t think with you watching me.”

“Fine.” She paused, reaching for his hand and seeming to think better of it. “If you say no, I’m still going.”

Baatar  stared at her. “What about— do you not care about… well… you know, this?” he finished weakly, gesturing from her to him. “Us?” 

“Do you not care about our nation?” she asked, her tone as corrosive as the acids that filled  the hazard cabinet. “Do you not care about the refugees or the orphaned children, or the— never mind, I’m going.”

“You didn’t answer me,” he said, his doubts from earlier flooding his mind. “ Kuvira , stop.”

“I won’t ask you to wait for me to get back, I don’t know how long it will take,” she snapped. “If that’s all you care about, then we’ll just call it off.”

“You’re breaking up with me over this,” he said incredulously, “just because I don’t want to drop everything I’m doing right this instant and leave with you?”

“No,” she said,  and the crack in her voice  instantly made  him  regret the accusation. “I’m leaving regardless, so it seems silly to keep things going when I don’t know how long stabilizing the biggest Earth Kingdom stronghold will take. But thanks for making it sound like this is a power play.”

“ Kuvira —”

“If you officially make up your mind, let me know,” she said, already at the door. “You know I can’t stand false hope." 

o0o

She never had imagined herself to be the type to mope after a breakup, especially after a relationship that had been tenuous at best. The more she thought on it, the more she tried to rationalize. Little had changed after she and  Baatar  had begun seeing one another; they had continued on more as friends than anything else, though an arm around the waist or a peck on the cheek or the occasional hormone-laced kiss indicated otherwise. Still, there was an intangible quality about him that made  Kuvira  miss being able to say they were together, and she struggled to find a name for it. Her initial thought was ‘disloyalty,’ but she knew that was hardly fair. He had never been under any obligation to go along with her plans, and she felt silly for seriously entertaining unreasonable expectations. 

It still hurt. 

It was late and the moonlight slotted through the blinds over her window, cutting across the bedclothes and throwing the insignia of the Metal Clan over her door into sharp relief, when she heard a sound outside.  Kuvira  frowned, her eyes narrowing to slits. Silently, she slipped from the bed and anchored her feet to the ground, feeling through the metal grid of the floor in the way that sent thrills up her legs and excitement into her chest. The footsteps were familiar. The footsteps were familiar, the ones she knew best,  the  ones she told herself she didn't feel for  during  all hours of the day—

She bended the locks and the door swung inward. "You," she said, her voice low. “I’m glad you’re done ignoring me. .. "

"May I come in?"

"Does  Suyin  know you’re here?"

"As if I would tell her."

Kuvira  waved him inside, silently closing the door behind him and sitting cross-legged at the foot of her bed. The dim lighting exaggerated the shadows on his face, throwing his cheekbones into sharp relief and giving him an inexplicably older appearance. She found herself thinking of the story Su had told her, of the first time she had asked  Baatar  Sr. to be the architect to design her vision for  Zaofu , and realized with a start that Su had been their age. "Well?” she asked.

Baatar  ran a hand through his hair, pulling off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "I've been thinking about what you said.” 

She nodded. “It only took you a week. But I know it was a lot for me to… unload on you."

"No," he said quietly, standing opposite her. "No, it was... I'm glad you came to me. Thank you for trusting me."

She shrugged, looking up at him. "You're welcome," she said, nodding her head in the direction of her desk chair. "How long are you planning on staying? You can have a seat if you want.”

"Right," he said, sitting awkwardly. " Kuvira , I agree with what you want to do, but I don't want you to go.”

"You  just  said you agree  with me!" she said, her composure beginning to crack. "Did you come here to try and convince me to stay? I'm going,  Baatar . I can't stay here. I'll lose my mind if I can't do  something . Korra  is out of commission! Who’s going to help our people? Su just wants to hide behind the domes!"

"Mom doesn't want to be a national leader," he said. “Is  not  going for a power grab a bad thing now?”

"It doesn't have to be permanent,"  Kuvira  insisted. "You have the resources, you have the military power—"

"The  state , "  Baatar  gently corrected her. "Not me.” 

"Your family, I mean," she said. "You might have spent your life inside  Zaofu , but I know what it's like when a warlord takes power. I know better than anyone else.”

She felt him stand, and she looked up to see him step towards her, hovering awkwardly by her side before sitting next to her on the bed at her prompting. She could see saddened understanding in his face, and knew they both were thinking back to a specific day six years ago, when she had told him the details of how she had come to  Zaofu . "I know," he said, looking for  all the  world like he was about to take her hand, and instead patted her shoulder. "What would your leaving achieve?”

"Why should I stay?" she countered. 

Baatar  hesitated , his eyes pleading . "Are you saying there's  nothing  for you here?"

It took her a moment to understand his meaning, but she ignored his question. "If I leave, it won't be alone. If I leave, it'll be with the security force backing me, with... with benefactors, and  Varrick's  support, and engineers to help rebuild the infrastructure. I won't leave alone. I'm not the avatar, there's only so much I can do by myself.”

"You think you can stabilize Ba Sing Se with that?" he said incredulously. "You're not thinking about specifics,  Kuvira . You have to contend with the queen's Royal Guard and the Dai Li-- you have to get the Council of Fa to name a new ruler, and you have no way of knowing who would be a good fit—"

"The Royal Guard can't keep out bandits," she said in disgust. "The walls came down and then what? Everything fell to pieces. And the Dai Li .. .  Baatar , I just need to get  in .  I can figure out the rest, I won't go into this without proper planning. Don't you trust me?"

"I do!" 

"Then why did you say no?"

"My whole life is here," he said quietly. "My family is here. Dad needs me in the lab, Mom won’t like another one of us willingly going into harm’s way, not after the Red Lotus nearly got Opal and the rest of the  airbenders ."

"Right,"  Kuvira  said softly. "I... I didn't think. I'm sorry I got angry, I just... no, of course I understand. I’m sorry.”

She heard him make a tiny sound of protest and she brought her heels to the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees. "It's not that I don't want to help you," he said. "I do. I can figure out a way to help from here, maybe. When I'm not needed--"

" _ I _  need you," she blurted  out,  feeling her face heat the moment her words left her. She swallowed her instinct to backtrack, to rescind the words while they were still fresh in the air between them, and met his eyes. "I need you," she said frankly. "And I'll take whatever help you can give me, whether that means staying here or coming with me.”

" Kuvira —" 

She felt him try to put his arm around her and she stopped him, her fingers closing around his wrist before his arm could make contact. "No.”

"If we do this—" 

“I’ve already effectively convinced the force," she said. "I've been talking about it with them, I've even talked to  Varrick . They’re tired of elite training only to open and close the domes morning and night. I need more engineers on board, and someone who can pilot the aircraft. I wanted someone I can trust, so of course I thought of you.  Varrick  agreed to leave  Suyin  too easily, and she gave him political asylum. I can't expect loyalty from him, that's just naive.”

"You said you need me,"  Baatar  said, his voice oddly strained. “Why? You’re the most gifted fighter I’ve ever seen. You were named to the guard a t  sixteen, you’re already the captain, and I’m pretty sure you bench more than me… I have every confidence you could take the city if you planned it well enough, what do you need me for?”

"Because I do," she insisted. "You just turned twenty-two and you already have four patents pending. You've been engineering your father's projects since we were teenagers. You designed the best prototype for the expose—"

"That's not impressive,  Kuvira ," he said. "I've always been good at math and physics, and I've always done nothing else. You could do it too, if you bothered to listen when I explain it all to you.”

"Not like you," she said, her fingers impulsively closing on his arm. "You come up with things I never would've imagined to be possible. Diode lights? You cut emissions and maximized energy efficiency. Your father wanted to write it off because the lights were dim, and now they’re his favorite feature. Stop downplaying yourself, you beat Future Industries to the discovery.”

Baatar  was silent until she nudged him, raising her eyebrows and her expression demanding an answer. "That's just one example," he said, the beginnings of a flush coloring his cheeks, even in the moonlight. 

"I can think of half a dozen more, then.” 

"I'm listening," he said, grinning. "I don't hear this stuff nearly enough.”

"Hush." She nudged him again, this time playfully, feeling a smile break over her face. "You're different. If anyone can single-handedly head the tech sector, it's you."

"If we go," he said slowly, "we can't tell my parents."

"They deserve to know.” She tightened her hold on him, forcing the desperation from her voice. “So you’ll come with me?"

"They won't let us,"  Baatar  said, turning to face her more fully. "Listen to me. Mom refused to hear anything more on the subject, isn't that what you told me?”

"Su let Opal go,"  Kuvira  pointed out. "You're her son, she'll listen. I'll deal with her  later,  she's effectively my boss. She can't stop  me  from leaving, but you owe it to her to ask.”

His jaw tightened at the way she spoke of her role in the family, and he looked away. "You're as much my family as the rest, you know that.”

She looked away, embarrassed by the incandescent happiness she knew was lighting up her face. With an effort she kept a neutral tone, imagining Su’s sobering reaction if  Baatar  were to leave without so much as a hint of his intentions. "Just ask her,  Baatar .”

"I don't want to deal with the headache," he said. "Even if she says yes, you don't know what it's like to get her to agree... it's exhausting. Half the time I feel like it isn't worth the trouble,” he  added  bitterly, “and I don’t want to rehash it again. If you're leaving on your terms, I'm leaving on mine. I’ll help you with whatever you need, but you can't make me talk to Mom and Dad. I'm not leaving  Zaofu  to work for someone else, even if it  is  you—" 

"Never," she said firmly, planting her hands on his shoulders. "No, if we do this, we're doing this as partners. As equals.”

He exhaled slowly, a new interest in his eyes, focused on something she couldn't see. "I'd be the chief engineer ..."

"Yes," she said, feeling hopeful for the first time since the breakup. "And I'll support all your endeavors, we just have to be practical and focus on the country first. But any side project you want, I'll support you.”

“And I’ll help you with the strategy," he said, nodding. "I'll go with you," he said quietly, more to himself than her before he looked up, meeting her eyes with a tentative smile. "We'll start planning properly tomorrow night? I'm busy all day.”

"Perfect," she said, throwing her arms around him and realizing herself a moment too late. "Yes, that's optimal,” she added, glancing to the door. "You should probably go, you know. I can open the domes partway if you need help getting back to your house.”

"No," he said nonchalantly, standing and stretching. "No, I figured out a way to do it from the switchboard. I'll be fine. You can walk me out if you like.” 

She shook her head, grinning. "See? You don't even hear yourself. You're incredible. You're six feet and four inches of untapped potential. This is just the beginning,  Baatar ."

"Tomorrow," he said, hugging her awkwardly. "I'm sorry for .. for  last week. Can we--" 

"There's no rush to try again," she said warmly. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together with a pretty tall reunification order. But I won’t rule it out." 

"Is that what we're going to call it? I like it,"  Baatar  said, his hand on the door. "Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow." They stared at one another in a giddy sort of c a m ara derie, the silence never  awkward or stifling. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she wondered if he could hear it from where he stood. There was something she needed to say to him, something important, but she found herself unable to pinpoint what it was and stood mute, taking in the sight of him bathed in moonlight and standing in her doorway. It would be so easy to kiss him goodbye, just a small step forward and a tilt of the head... "You need to leave,"  Kuvira  murmured instead, shifting the ground beneath him and moving to shut the door.

"Don't you want to know why I didn't want you to go?" he asked, taking a step forward and blatantly stalling.  Baatar’s  height was something she forgot until he was standing directly in front of her, and she tipped her head back to catch his eyes, feeling the words reverberating  throug h  h is chest  just inches away . "You're not even curious?”

"No," she said, pushing him out the door and laughing at his petulant expression. "Get out of my apartment, some things are better left unsaid. Weren't you just telling me that a second ago?"

Baatar  grimaced, nodding. "Apparently. I'll see you soon."

Kuvira  fell backwards onto her bed once she'd seen him out, alone with her thoughts again but feeling infinitely less lonely. For a moment, she regretting not telling him how much his acquiescence meant to her, but the prospect of him by her side as they helped their nation  quickly alleviated the guilt. She wasn’t sure if her delight stemmed from a place of romantic interest o r  appreciation of his constant support, but she’d have plenty of time to figure it out and tell him on the train.  After all , some things went without saying, and those  things  were better left unsaid.

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun doing this series. Here's to many more Baavira oneshots!


End file.
